


boundaries

by AFireInTheAttic



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Asexual Character, F/M, TW Rarepair Secret Valentine 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 08:16:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6187132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AFireInTheAttic/pseuds/AFireInTheAttic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What do you think I’ll do?“</p>
<p>"Be mad,” he confessed. “Leave. Tell me this has all been a joke.”</p>
<p>“I’m not going to be angry. I’m not going to leave. And this hasn’t been a joke," she promised.</p>
            </blockquote>





	boundaries

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nighttimemachinery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nighttimemachinery/gifts).



> inspired by [this post](http://malieatate.tumblr.com/post/94307592878/okay-but-like-acederekacekira-is-so-soo)! I hope you enjoy it, Harper :)

Kira likes kissing. Loves it, actually. It’s a nice, soft way to communicate affection. And it feels great, too, even when Derek has only just shaved and his beard is a little rougher than usual. It’s all good. They have an aloe vera plant on the window sill, anyway.

She loves this, though—curled up in their shared bed in soft, warm pajamas. Derek always keeps his socks on because he gets cold. (She kicks hers off with her shoes and leaves them by the door. On laundry day, she digs pairs out of her shoes—or forgets them and runs out of socks too soon.) In the background, Derek has the radio tuned to the local top 40 station, but the volume is turned down to a pleasant hum while they make out.

She sucks on his lower lip, running her fingers up his back—over his clothes. He had nearly jumped out of the room when she’d touched his bare skin before, so she hasn’t tried it since. She figures he’ll bring it up when he’s ready, and until then, she’ll just keep the touching chaste.

As if sensing her thoughts, Derek pulls back and looks at her seriously. He’s propped up on his side, looking down at her.

She mirrors him, going up on one elbow so their eyes are at the same level. “You okay?”

He smiles, but he seems troubled. “I’ve just been thinking.”

“What’s up?” she asks, suddenly worried. Maybe they crossed a line she didn’t know about. She loved Derek, but he could be really quiet when he was nervous about sharing something. Normally, this wouldn’t bother her, but when it came to physicality—well, Kira knew more than most how important it was to communicate about what was okay. With Derek, finding out what was okay was like pulling teeth. So mostly, she stuck to the same stuff they’d been doing. It seemed safer.

“Well,” he said slowly, frowning. “I guess I feel like maybe you’re not, um…into this.”

Which. Well. That’s not what she expected. She doesn’t even know how to respond at this point because it seems so…out there. She loves Derek, and had thought it was pretty obvious by this point. “What do you mean?”

Nervously, he rolled into his back. “I don’t know.”

She sighed and tried to collect her thoughts. She couldn’t figure out what Derek meant by this sudden announcement. “What does ‘this’ mean?” She asked finally. “Kissing?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Me,” he whispered quietly.

“Derek, we live together,” she said, frowning. She dropped off her elbow so she would be a little closer to him. “Why would I have moved in with you if I wasn’t into you?”

He shrugged, screwing his eyes shut even tighter. “Maybe it was easy? I have an apartment and a job so you can go to school without worrying about money.” He sounded morose, like he’d already accepted this as a reality.

Which was absurd. She tried to figure out WHY he was feeling this way—what had she said to lead him to believe she only wanted him for his money? “Derek, my parents didn’t want me to move out. I could have lived with them until I was 45 for all they cared. Anyway, I keep trying to help with rent and you won’t let me.”

“I know!” He said petulantly.

“So what happened?” She asked gently. “What did I do that made you think I’m not living with you—dating you—because I love you?”

“Nothing,” he sighed. He opened his eyes and smiled up at her, but she could tell he wasn’t satisfied with the conversation.

“Derek, what is it?” She pressed.

He looked away, smile dropping. “I…I don’t want to say it.”

“Why not?”

“I’m scared.”

“Of me?”

“A little bit.”

Well that was unsettling. She wrapped an arm around him carefully.  "What do you think I’ll do?“

"Be mad,” he confessed. “Leave. Tell me this has all been a joke.”

“I’m not going to be angry. I’m not going to leave. And this hasn’t been a joke,” she promised. Nothing Derek was going to say would anger her. She was sure of it.

Hesitantly, he nodded. “It’s just…I…you…it doesn’t smell like you like me!”

Once again, Derek had pulled the floor from under her. She felt completely perplexed. She’d asked Scott–affection didn’t have a scent. “That doesn’t make sense,” she said.

He flushed darkly. “You know…I never smell…arousal…”

She blinked. Was that what this was about? “Derek…”

“And it just feels like you should,” he interrupted, not seeming to realize she’d spoken. “I smelled it on Kate and Jennifer and Braeden—hell, even Scott smells like arousal around me, but you—“

“Derek!” she snapped, cupping his face. “I’m asexual.”

He shut up and then just stared at her, seeming to be more baffled than anything else. “What?”

Dropping her arm back to curl around him, she repeated, “I’m asexual. Do you know what that means?”

* * *

Thirty minutes, two webpages, and three memes later, Kira and Derek were finally quiet and back to cuddling. Derek was no longer tense, but he seemed more thoughtful than before, if that were possible. “How did you know you were ace?” he asked finally.

Kira traced patterns onto his abdomen. “I just…For a long time I knew I was different,” she confessed. “Just the way people talked about sex. I mean, I’m cupiosexual—uh, that means I’m ace but I want to be in a sexual relationship—but I never understood attraction and that stuff.” She shrugged. “Then I just…saw something about it on the internet and knew it was me.”

He hummed thoughtfully. “I think I’m asexual,” he whispered.

She hadn’t expected it, though maybe it explained some things—like the way he would pull away when they made out for too long, or how he didn’t like to be touched skin to skin without warning. And that was okay. So she just nodded and kissed his cheek. “Okay,” she said. “Okay.”

* * *

Talking to Derek about physicality was still like pulling teeth, but now Kira understood more about him. So really, it worked out.

Like right now, she was straddling him, legs bent at the knees and tucked close to him. He was flat on his stomach, head turned to the right so she could see his face get that blissful look as she worked the knots in his back slowly away.

Last week, Scott had gifted Kira with some massage oils. Derek’s favorite was the lavender scent, and she was using it now.

She carefully moved up and down his spine first, making sure to press gently while still digging her fingers in. “How’s that?”

“Sooooo goooooood,” he slurred, lips parting with a small moan.

She felt something twist in her core at the sound of his moan, but she ignored it. Right now was about relaxing him. “You’re doing so well,” she cooed and pressed the heels of her hands underneath his shoulder blades. “So good for me.”

He let out a small squeak, and she tried not to giggle. It worked, mostly. To reward him for being so bare with her, she leaned down and pressed soft, gentle kisses down his spine. “So good, baby,” she murmured.

One day, she thought, Derek wouldn’t worry so much. He would know that she loved him and that neither of them were broken. They were just right for each other.

And in the meantime, they had this.

 


End file.
